Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Wednesday is Recipe Day!

Every so often, I cast through my site visits and I feel strangely guilty that my blog failed to provide that which the referred visitor was seeking*. So this one goes out to you, Mr/s. "Show Me How to Make Sweet and Sour Meatballs**":

Holiday MeatballsMakes 60 appetizers

1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey

2/3 cup dry bread crumbs

1 egg, slightly beaten

1/4 cup water

3 tablespoons minced onion

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 cup chili Sauce

1 cup grape jelly

Combine first 8 ingredients. Form into 60 bite-sized meatballs using roundedteaspoon for each. Place in shallow baking pan or jelly roll pan sprayed with cooking spray or brushed with oil. Bake in 450 F degree oven for 12- 15 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to plate covered in paper towels to absorb grease if using beef. Meanwhile, in small saucepan, combine chili sauce and grape jelly. Heat until jelly is melted and there are no lumps. Place well-drained meatballs in fondue pot or chafing dish. Pour chili sauce mixture over; stir gently to coat.

Tip: For a zestier sauce, substitute hot jalapeno jelly for grape jelly, or add a generous dash of hot sauce.

Another tip: If you are using Sterno or similar canned heat item to heat your fondue pot, partially cover flame to keep temperature down and prevent meatballs from cooking right onto the bottom of the pot.

*Except when the search terms are something like, "torture girls," which has, in fact, happened. Ew!

**OK, they're not really sweet and sour meatballs, but they're spicy/sweet, and they are delicious (not to mention EASY). Plus they give me an excuse to talk about food some more.

I don't believe this. Here I am, all set to make dinner, a pound of ground chicken in the refrigerator, and logging onto the Internet to find a meatball recipe. "I'll just check some of my favorite blogs for new posts first," I thought.

Delicious! I had to improvise a little: I used a pound of ground chicken (and reduced the other ingredients sort of accordingly), seasoned breadcrumbs, chicken broth instead of water, and a little less than 2/3 cup seedless raspberry jam instead of the grape jelly. I added several dashes of hot sauce, as per your suggestion, and a couple dashes of soy sauce. I made the meatballs slightly larger and flipped them once in the oven. I coated them with the sauce and served them as an entree with sauteed escarole and hot crusty bread. Yum! Thanks for the great recipe! I'll be making these again!